Gar Lipow on eco-optimism

[Gordon Fitch]

Eric Franz Leher:
> ... 
> What sort of shit is this? There are any number of accessible
> non-technical works on this subject (a good one being Jared Diamond's
> _The Rise and Fall of the Third Champanzee_) It is in fact clear that
> species are being driven into extinction at a rate far, far higher than
> is usual.
> ...

The problem with this sort of statement is that we don't know
how many species there are, we don't know how many are actually
being driven into extinction, and we don't know what the usual
rate of extinction is, or even if there is something we could
reasonably call a "usual rate".  In other words, the statement
comes with a big "KICK ME" sign pasted on its butt.